Syria says US picks ambassador

DAMASCUS: Syria has received a request from Washington to accredit a US ambassador to Damascus, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moualem said on Wednesday, marking a milestone in rapprochement between the two countries. Washington’s move marks another step toward improving relations with Syria, a process started by US President Barack Obama soon after he took office a year ago. The US withdrew its ambassador from Damascus in 2005 following the assassination in Beirut of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Egypt’s Copts call for equal rights

CAIRO: Egyptian activists have protested in front of Parliament and called for legislation giving Christians equal rights as Muslims to build houses of worship. The demonstrators, both Muslim and Christian, were also protesting Wednesday against the sectarian strains in the country, particularly in light of a Christmas Eve slaying of six Copts and a Muslim guard outside a church in southern Egypt.

Bedouins kill Sinai policemen

ISMAILIA: Bedouin tribesmen shot dead two policemen in the Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday as they freed eight suspects on their way to a court hearing, security sources said. An Interior Ministry statement said shortly after that all but one of the suspects had been caught again. The tribesmen, using four pick-up trucks, cornered the police van carrying the prisoners, then opened fire, the security sources said. Three policemen and a driver were also wounded.

Gazan killed in gas explosion

GAZA: An explosion in a building in Gaza on Wednesday killed a Palestinian and injured four other residents, medical workers said, in what Hamas security officials described as a cooking gas accident. The officials said a cooking gas canister exploded on the ground floor of the multi-story structure.

Israeli sent back from Gaza

JERUSALEM: An Arab citizen of Israel who crossed illegally into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, raising concern he might be held hostage, was returned to Israel on Wednesday. Palestinian witnesses said Hamas security forces had taken the 22-year-old man into custody after he climbed over Israel’s frontier fence into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. He was described by his family as mentally unstable.

Sudanese shot near Israel border

CAIRO: Egyptian police shot dead a Sudanese migrant near the border with Israel as they traded fire with human traffickers, a security official said on Wednesday. The 27-year-old migrant was shot dead when he tried to flee into Israel late on Tuesday. None of the policemen were wounded in the exchange. The traffickers and at least four other migrants escaped, the official said. He was the third migrant killed this year while trying to enter Israel.

— Compiled from agencies